Exiled Chinese tycoon, Guo Wengui, who is now residing in New York, has rocked Chinese politics for months by claiming to expose the corrupt lifestyle of high-ranking Communist Party officials. Guo made the allegations ahead of the looming transition in the standing committee of the party's politburo. Guo, a billionaire who claimed to have worked closely with the Chinese secret police on overseas operations for years, left China in 2013. In January 2015, China arrested the government's spy head Ma Jian on suspicion of corruption. Soon after prominent economic news outlet Caixin published an investigative report on Guo and his association with Ma Jian, suggesting that his success in business has been backed by the secret police. In return, Guo accused Caixin's chief editor Hu Shuli of extortion. Beijing decided to prosecute Ma Jian on corruption charges in December 2016. Guo opened his Twitter account in early 2017 and started revealing details of the corrupt practices of government officials including those with hidden wealth outside China. By end of May, Guo had 225,000 followers on Twitter. Guo has explained that his intentions are personal: reclaim his money and life, as well as retaliate against those who persecuted him. He has put forward seven principles for his personal campaign: 反對以黑反貪、以貪反貪、以警反貪、以警治國；不反人民、不反國家、不反習近平。 Against using illegal means in anti-graft, against corruption in fighting against corruption, against using public security force in anti-graft, against police-state; would not stand against people, the country and [President] Xi Jinping. Chinese Twitter users are divided over Guo's motivations. Some believe once Guo is able to negotiate with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to unfreeze his assets, he will happily work with the party again. For example, @liushui1989 said: 支持郭骗者早应该看清楚，郭骗“只反贪官不反皇帝”，目的是和当权者做交易——保钱、保命和报仇，并非为社会进步和国家民主。他将自己从罪犯装扮成英雄，拿民意、黑幕作为交易工具。一切美好的东西，都会被他在交易中无情地戕害。那些攀附者和支持者，都将是他的子弹和炮灰。事实上也成为助纣为虐者。 For those who support Guo the liar, please understand that Guo is “against the corrupt, not the emperor”. His intention is to make a deal with the ruler — reclaim his money, life, and retaliate — not work for the sake of social progress and democracy. He has transformed himself from a criminal into a hero, manipulating public opinion and evidence of corruption as a negotiating chip. He will destroy all the beautiful hearts in his deal. All his supporters will turn into bullets and ashes. And they are helping the villain rather than the weak. Yet many also believe that as an insider of the political system, Guo's revelations of the internal power struggle and corruption in the top bureaucracy can shake up the political status quo. Among those accused by Guo of being corrupt is Fu Zhenghua, China’s executive deputy minister of public security. In response, the Ministry of Public Security’s social media account released a video confession of Ma Jian accusing Guo of bribing him with RMB 60 million yuan (approximately US $8.72 million). Guo issued a rejoinder by appearing in a live interview with US government-funded news outlet Voice of America on April 19, which he described as a “nuclear bomb” about Chinese politics. However, the Voice of America interview was abruptly cut short with an alleged order from its director Amanda Bennett, who said Chinese officials that Guo named must be given an opportunity to respond “in advance” to any accusations of corruption. Hours before Guo's interview was scheduled, China had asked Interpol to put out a global warrant for his arrest. Many Chinese believe Beijing was behind Voice of America's decision. Below is a typical criticism of the Voice of America (VOA) incident on Twitter: 新闻平衡是借口，实质是不敢得罪中共，屈服于压力。新闻平衡是让双方都充分表达，而不是修剪原始表达。如果中共不对相关内容做出回应，为了所谓新闻平衡，另一方就应被剥夺发声机会吗？免责声明就是平衡的法律形式。不过要谢谢VOA的恶作剧，让世界知道中共打心里害怕草根郭文贵，敢撞石头的一颗鸡蛋 Balanced news is just an excuse. The reality is that [VOA's leader] dares not offend the CCP and had submitted to its pressure. Balanced news is to let both parties express their views in full, not to edit the original expression. Should [VOA] take away the other side's opportunity to speak out in the name of balanced news because CCP refuses to respond? Disclaimer is a form of balance in legal term. But we should thank VOA for its malicious act. Now the whole world knows that the CCP is really scared of Guo Wengui, an egg who dared to crash the wall [meaning political system]. Guo's wife and daughter, who were previously barred from leaving China, visited Guo in New York in mid-May after he had kept low profile for a month. But the reunion has not stopped Guo from making further allegations on Twitter.